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Mosaic helps put lives back together
in program for adults with brain injuries
Art project at Anixter Center's New Focus program truly a team effort
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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| Contact: |
Betsy Storm, Director of Public Relations |
bstorm@anixter.org |
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| Phone: |
(773) 973-7900, Ext. 243 |
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CHICAGO (February 10, 2005) – Anixter Center’s New Focus Program offers individuals an opportunity to reclaim their lives after sustaining brain injuries. A recent art project served as a powerful metaphor of the healing process for 20 individuals with brain injuries who collaborated on a paper mosaic titled “Seasons of Our Minds.” After eight months of patience and persistence, people rehabilitating at New Focus, along with six staff members, recently completed the unique wall art. “Participants here are engaged in a reintegration process and putting the pieces of their lives back together,” says New Focus Manager Lisa Goldman. “Therefore, the mosaic is symbolic and serves as a metaphor for their current life experience.”
New Focus, founded in 1991, is a community reintegration program that provides comprehensive rehabilitation to adults with brain injuries. Beginning in April 2004, individuals spent 45 minutes each week working on their section of the mosaic, which depicts the four seasons within an outline of the brain. Individuals in the program thought of the theme and title of the mosaic. The project addressed fine motor skills; cognitive skills including memory and concentration; creative self-expression; and socialization.
“The participants have identified that being a part of a group creative process is both life affirming and healing,” Lisa says. “We plan to continue connecting with each other in this way, keeping group art as an essential component of our rehabilitation program.”
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The mission of the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center is to assist people with disabilities to live and work successfully in the community. Anixter Center is a leading provider of high-quality vocational, residential and educational options, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and health care. Anixter Center is an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to be full and equal members of the community.
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